Next Tuesday’s Election Day is fast approaching, as campaigns and volunteers from Virginia to California attempt to get out the vote this weekend. I wanted to share a brief update on how COURIER and our local network of state newsrooms have stepped up to produce original reporting, compelling social content, and on-the-ground coverage of the key races up and down the ballot. Whether it’s the fight over redistricting in California or the statewide elections in Virginia, these races matter deeply as a first major electoral test of MAGA’s popularity since the 2024 presidential campaign.
Virginia - Statewide
In Virginia, our team at The Dogwood is all-in on this year’s election coverage—from the House of Delegates up to the gubernatorial race. Across the Commonwealth, our reporters have been following the candidates, policy debates, and grassroots efforts that will shape Virginia’s future. Along the way, we’re telling the stories national outlets often overlook and motivating our audiences to vote ahead of Election Day.
Whether it’s the top of the ticket campaign, or down-ballot races, Dogwood has published hundreds of pieces of content and original stories this year, letting Virginians know what’s at stake next Tuesday.
In addition to Dogwood’s original reporting, our team recruited and partnered with a dozen Virginia-based creators who have each earned the trust of audiences across platforms like TikTok and Instagram, to amplify Dogwood reporting on the elections and voting to their own communities. These partnerships have not only delivered over 11 million online video views since August, but have helped grow our Virginia audiences to reach more voters year-round with good, factual, values-driven news and information!
Pennsylvania - Supreme Court
Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, our team at The Keystone has focused on covering a race that has gotten very little national attention - the retention election for state Supreme Court justices. The outcome of the off-year judicial election will shape the ideological balance of the state’s highest court for the next decade, directly impacting rulings on critical issues such as voting rights, abortion access, election law, redistricting, environmental protections, and workplace regulations.
California - Proposition 50
Although we don’t have a local newsroom or reporters on the ground in California (yet…!), the COURIER national team has a significant share of followers in the state (especially on Instagram and TikTok), and has played a key role in educating those followers and subscribers about the Prop 50 ballot initiative.
As voters cast their ballots next Tuesday across these and other consequential elections, our teams will continue to be out in communities across the country doing what they do best: explaining what’s at stake and elevating the voices that too often go unheard.
It’s work that’s especially critical in a moment when trusted local information is harder to find than ever. I’m so proud of how our reporters and content creators have risen to meet this moment in a challenging year, and grateful to everyone who reads, shares, and values their work. Rest assured, our team will be working late into Election Night and beyond to keep our audiences informed about the results and what they mean for the months ahead.
- Tara
What I’m reading this week
The Andrew Cuomo Campaign Is All in on MAGA Influencers (WIRED, 10/23)
“With only 13 days left before the New York City mayoral election, former governor Andrew Cuomo is partnering with some of the same influencers who helped President Donald Trump win the White House last year.”
News consumption habits split US, study finds (Semafor, 10/26)
“According to the survey, active news consumers tended to be older, left-leaning viewers of cable news…GSG found the people most likely to be passive news consumers were young, Gen Z voters who rarely watch live television, have not been vaccinated against COVID-19, or consider themselves to be politically independent or a non-MAGA Republican. According to the survey, 54% of women aged 18-54 and 48% of service industry workers were passive news consumers.”
CBS News staffers lose jobs in ‘bloodbath’ as part of sweeping cuts from Paramount (Guardian, 10/28)
“For months, CBS News staffers have been on edge waiting for a long-expected round of layoffs as part of the $2bn in cost-cutting that had been promised after parent company Paramount’s successful merger with Skydance Media.”